NC State vs UNC CS Please Help

College Search & Selection
1

It is April 27 and deposits are due by May 1. I have no clue where I want to go.

My selected major is CS at UNC and Comp Engineering at NC State, however I plan on switching to CS at NC State. I have been going back and forth for months, and here are my main points.

UNC:
Better CS program
Better school overall
5 year masters CS program (other question - undergrad CS at UNC is relatively new but the graduate program has been around for a while and is very respected - correct? Would this be beneficial for me?)

NC State:
I like it better.
That’s it.

Let me explain. I’ve toured each a few times, and I went to a week long residential camp at NC State and had a great time. When I went this past weekend to tour UNC, the people I met weren’t very excited to talk to me and they didn’t seem all that great. However, when I toured State the next day, I went to see the Engineering Village (dorms) and everyone seemed super enthusiastic to talk about how much they love State and give me advice, and the campus felt more like home (although this could be because I’ve spent more time there). The NC State campus also has a lot more trees and just, in my opinion, looks/feels nicer.

If I don’t do CS I think I may want to go pre-med, which is totally UNC, or Engineering (maaaybe), which is totally UNC, or Mathematics, which could go either way.

ALSO V IMPORTANT:
Which school has a more rigorous computer science program? It’s not that I don’t want to challenge myself because I do, but I’ve read (in David and Goliath the book) that people who do STEM are 3 times more likely to complete their degree if they are doing better in the classes relative to peers. Because I assume neither are ‘easy’ programs, I would be more likely to go with the one that is less rigorous.

CS students are required to take Chem their first year at NC State - a weed-out class?

SORRY I KNOW THIS IS SO MUCH INFORMATION BUT SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME I’M OVER THINKING THIS AND MY HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE

Also, my school only offers Computer Programming 1 at the academic level, but my dad majored in Electrical Engineering but works a lot with CS people/CS and swears I have the brain for it and I would love it. Is my lack of knowledge going in going to be extremely problematic in either program?

SORRY SOMEONE PLEASE HELP THANKS

2

For each school, do you have direct admission to the CS major? If not, what requirements are there to enter the CS major?

At some schools, the CS major is much more popular than the department can handle, so getting into the CS major means getting through a weed-out process to get a high enough GPA to be admitted to the major.

3

If you don’t do CS, you’d go with UNC hands down. Well, you don’t seem at all certain that CS is the route you want to take, so go ahead and choose NC State, then switch majors and bang your head against the wall.

On another thread you said UNC was your dream school.

You’re right, you’re overthinking this.

4

CS at UNC is not new - I had friends in it in the 80s including the current CEO of Cisco.

When you say Engineering is totally UNC I assume you mean Biomedical Engineering.

Who did you meet at UNC that wasn’t excited to talk to you - Professors? That might be a red flag unless it was 2 or less then maybe you just met the surly ones. If it was other prospects I wouldn’t worry too much about a one time thing.

If this was the 80s I’d say you were in the minority in thinking the State campus looked better but maybe UNC over built since I was there.

If finances are the same I think UNC is the better choice - CS, pre-med, BME.